The dust was still settling, both literally and figuratively, as the team sat around the remnants of their once high-tech command center. The room felt foreign now, stripped of its heartbeat, of the System that had once pulsed with data and possibility. For a few minutes, no one spoke. The hum of the servers was gone, replaced by a hollow silence. The screens that had glowed with activity only moments ago were now dark, still, and blank as tombstones.
James stood in the center, staring at where the System had been, feeling both a deep loss and a strange sense of relief. But as he watched the empty monitors, a familiar sense of purpose filled him again. This was a beginning, not an end. The System, as powerful as it had been, was never the entirety of what he and his team had built. They still had their knowledge, their skills, and most importantly, each other.
